Follow me
by racheldarling
Summary: CSI/Crossing Jordan Crossover. Sara takes a break from a case too hard for her and decides to visit an old childhood friend. Little does she know her case is following her. SN, JW eventually
1. Chapter 1

**Follow me**

I don't own any of the CSI or Crossing Jordan Characters, really wish I would, but oh well, maybe one day I'll find a magical lamp…

This is my first published fic, so please read & review but don't kill me. Thanks and here we go

That was it. The case she couldn't crack. The case she couldn't handle. The case she couldn't stop thinking about. Sara Sidle rubbed her hands over her face. She had been sitting behind her computer for over 5 hours and nothing had brought her any further, not the evidence she had gone through piece by piece, or the reports she had gotten by witnesses, bystanders or coworkers. No motive. No connection to anything. It seemed like the perfect crime.

A young woman kidnapped, brutally beaten over weeks and eventually killed. No family, so no one had come and looked for her. No missing person statement had been made for a month until the boss of the young woman had gotten so worried she hadn't shown up at work that he called the cops. Worried. He wasn't worried, Sara thought. He had failed to notice her not being there for an entire month. But he wasn't the killer. He was just busy.

Sara rolled her chair back and got up. Walked into the bathroom and leaned her arms on the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. Staring at the pale, hollow face with dark brown eyes, dark brown hair and a dark brown soul. She smiled. That was when it hit her. She couldn't stay. She couldn't finish this case. It meant too much to her. It could have been her. No family check. No friends outside work check. The boss too busy check. Sara sighed. 'You need to get out of here,' she told her reflection in the mirror. And smiled. Clearly she had to leave if she already started to talk to a mirror.

Gil Grissom sat in his chair, his mouth open, his eyes fixed on one strong and yet so fragile person. She had come to his office asking for a moment of his time and then hit him over the head. Not literally, but he felt it made no difference that she had used words rather than a frying pan. 'I can't work on this case anymore. I can't finish it. You should know. I have to leave, just for a couple of days. Maybe a week.'

He should have known, should have seen it coming. The case resembled her life and she had been wrapped up in it in the last week. Too wrapped up. Why had he failed to notice it? He had seen all the signs of her typical breakdown coming, the late mornings and early nights in the office, her red and swollen eyes every evening, her shortness of temper and her obsession. More than usual.

Grissom sighed. 'You are right. I'm sorry I gave it to you in the first place. I should have let Catherine and Warrick handle it. Of course you would have shot me in the back had I not given it to you.' They both smiled. 'You're right. I would have. But now I need a break. Should have taken it a long time ago. So it's okay?' Sara asked one last time, reassuring herself she was not running from anything or leaving Grissom and her team with a workload too big to bear. 'Yes. Go and relax. Don't drink too much or pick up anyone you shouldn't. And let me know where I can contact you. In case I...' Grissom stopped himself.

In case I miss you too much he had thought and had almost said it. 'Be professional', he reminded himself. 'Sara isn't interested in you. Anymore. She might have been a long time ago, but you ruined it. Because of your lack of people skills.' There was no one who could analyze murders or crime scenes like him. And no one who had fewer clues of communication skills.

Sara prevented a smile from appearing on her face. 'Yes I will. And I'll brush my teeth regularly. And I'll give you the number as soon as I know where I'll be. Thanks Grissom. Hey it's a change; for once you don't have to practically force me from my office.' She had refused to take any vacation almost over the whole time she worked here. She could've flown around the world and still have a couple of weeks vacation time left over.

'I wonder if he's sad I'm leaving? Or if he cares for me at all. I never stopped loving you, Gil. But that's not what's important now', she reminded herself. She got up from the chair and turned around to walk out the door.

'Sara, wait.' Grissom blurted out. He walked around his desk and stood opposite her. Not really knowing what to say and how to say it. 'I'll – be – have a good time.' He hugged her a simple goodbye. And forgot the world for a moment.

Sara had almost forgotten what it felt like to be hugged by Grissom. It was one of those rare occasions he reserved for showing what she meant to him. And it meant the world to her. Whenever she felt herself wrapped up in his arms she felt stronger than anything and yet ready enough to give up anything in this world. She closed her eyes and relaxed there for a second or two. A lifetime or two.

'I will.' She said when he let go of her. And with one last 'Bye' she disappeared through his door.

**He** was driving, observing the people around him with silent pity. They were nothing but sheep. They were less alive than him. Had less right. Because he had experienced it. The full meaning of life. The moment he took it. The moment he killed.

It had taken him a couple of weeks to find the right girl. In this state, that was. He had been patient, careful to observe and learn about her life. No family, no friends just another no one. Had waited long for the right moment to get her. And then his life had been complete for a couple of days. He reveled in the memory. How he had beaten her. Had seen her hope relinquished. And finally the resignation in her eyes. The spark that had gone out. That's when she became worthless.

Now he was free again. Free and on the hunt. He looked around while driving, seeing license plate after license plate. Nevada, he had been there, California, had been there, Washington, Texas, New Mexico – been there done that. Then he saw it. A Massachusetts license plate.

And he made up his mind. Looked like he was going on a road trip to the East coast.

I swear I'm getting to Jordan, but I thought here was a good break for the first chapter. Let me know what you think. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**Follow me**

Still don't own any of the CSI or Crossing Jordan Characters but I am praying!

R&R, please!

'Just another day in the morgue,' Jordan grumbled, when she saw Lily open the door to her office. Carrying huge piles of paperwork. Why had she agreed to take over Macy's paperwork, she would never understand. Well, he had had a terrible day, with his daughter screaming at him and his wife blaming him for his daughter screaming at him.

She shook her head. Families. They could be so annoying. Her own dad Max had just recently vanished from the face of the earth, again. But Jordan wasn't worried. He could take care of himself and usually showed up just fine. And just in time for her to mess something horribly up. She missed Max. 'Well, nothing like work to forget your relationship problems, huh?' She asked Lily, when she dumped the pile of papers on her desk.

'Yeah right.' Lily sighed. 'Poor Dr. Macy. He never lets anyone help him. Thinks work and life are not supposed to be brought together.' She pressed her lips tightly together as if trying to stop her from telling Jordan what she thought of that philosophy. But even without Lily raging in her office Jordan agreed with her. Dr. Macy needed to be reminded of what really mattered. By someone. She sighed. 'I'll stop by his office later. Maybe we could just burn these papers and then pretend there has been a fire in the building?' Jordan hopefully turned to Lily raising her eyebrows in a question. 'Haha, I wish.' Lily said. 'You can do it. Today or tomorrow.' Turning around she heard the phone ring.

'Jordan Cavanaugh.' 'Jordan! Hi, how are you? It's Sara. I haven't talked to you forever, how are you?' Jordan's eyes opened wider. 'Sara? Sara Sidle? Wow, great to hear from you. What's up? Where are you? How are you? What's going on?' Sara had been her good friend from when she was a kid and they had been in contact every now and then over letters and emails. They had the same emotional background, tragedy in the family and a talent of getting into all kinds of troubles together.

'I'm good. Or rather I needed a break and had some vacation time left and felt like I had to get away for a while. So I jumped on the next plane and guess where it led me? Boston! So here I am, needing a place to crash for a couple of days. How do you feel about housing somebody that knows all your darkest secrets?'

Jordan laughed and leaned back in her chair. 'Wow, I can't believe you are here. Sure you can stay with me. I'm at work right now, why don't you take a cap here and I'll take you home from here.' She looked at Lily who was raising her eyebrows in surprise at what she heard. 'I'm sure all my friends will be really excited to meet someone from my past.' Sara agreed and told her she would be at the office within the next hour.

'Jordan who was that?' Lily asked curiously after Jordan had hung up the phone. 'Who was who?' asked Nigel who had just walked past the open office door when he heard Lily asking. Jordan laughed. 'One of my childhood friends just called. She's in Boston and needs a place to stay for a couple of days or so. She'll come by in like an hour, so you'll all meet her. She's great, pretty, a troublemaker like me.' 'Well if you are friends she must be really interesting,' Nigel prompted and was on his way to tell this story to Bug and the rest of the office. Jordan looked at Lily 'She won't know what hit her when she shows up here.'

'Welcome to CostMart, can I help you find something?'. The older man inquired friendly as he walked into the store. With a sarcastic smile he thought 'My next project?' Pulling himself together he answered with friendliness 'Yes, thank you, I need to get some new windshield wipers.' The man, whose nametag identified him as Carl, nodded. 'They are in the second isle on your right. My favorite brand is Boston/Werthes. They last the longest. Have a nice day!' 'Thank you very much,' he thanked Carl and was on his way to pick up those wipers.

Standing in line on the checkout counter he thought 'Boston. Good idea.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Follow me**

I wonder how many times you are supposed to write this disclaimer. Just in case anything happens to you in between writing the chapters and they just want to make sure that you haven't gotten rich and bought the rights to these shows. Well, still obviously don't own any of these characters.

Took me a while to post again, spent a rather crappy weekend in Connecticut, but okay, let's move on to what really counts…

* * *

An hour later Sara watched the elevator doors open and stepped in, looking rather confused at the different levels. A tall dark haired man had entered behind her and watched her amusedly. 'Where do you want to go?' He asked her and she replied: 'To the Morgue.' The man's smile faded and he pushed on of the buttons on the side of the elevator. When the door closed he looked at her again and asked: 'Are you, do you…' He couldn't quite formulate his question, so he just let it trail off and waited for her answer. Sara laughed. 'No, I am just visiting an old friend.' He exhaled loudly and smiled. 'Wow, almost missed that one. That's the problem when you start making small talk with people riding in the elevator to the morgue.'

When the elevator doors opened the man wished her good luck and walked off to the right so Sara walked towards the info desk when she saw Jordan approaching her from the double glass doors in front of her. 'Wow, you haven't changed a bit,' they both said at the same time, then laughed and hugged. Sara smiled, 'Thanks for letting me stay at your place for a bit. Nice place you have here. Who would have thought you'd still be here, after all these years.' 'Yeah,' Jordan nodded, 'definitely took a lot time but now I'm rather happy. Come, and meet everybody. You're already the talk of the office.'

Jordan led Sara along the hallway through the glass doors and stopped at Lily's office first. 'Lily, this is Sara. Sara, Lily. She was in the office when you called and couldn't believe the fact that I actually had a friend I would invite to come and see me at work,' she laughed as Lily got up from behind her desk to greet Sara. Sara laughed 'I can see that, who would want to stick with you long enough to want to see where you work.' Now her and Lily were laughing at Jordan who gave them a pouty face.

'Well great, when you guys are done laughing at me we can move on to the others-' 'Not necessary, luv', declared Nigel, when he and Bug came through the open door. 'I thought your friend might be too tired to run through the whole office, so I decided to bring the whole office to her. Well, at least the people that run it.' He walked towards Sara and smiled, offering his hand. 'Hi, I'm Nigel, pleased to meet you. This is Bug, don't ask about the name,' he whispered, leaning down towards her ear, 'it makes him so self-conscious.' 'Ha-ha, very funny. Don't believe a word he says,' Bug immediately interrupted, shaking Sara's hand as well. Sara laughed and looked at Jordan 'Now I see why you're still working here.' Jordan nodded. 'Yeah, they're pretty okay to be around 24/7.' Sara stifled a yawn and Jordan immediately suggested 'Let's go. We need to get your bed ready and I don't want to work any longer anyways.

'Excuse me,' a stern looking man poked his head through the open door, 'what did I just hear? And what's going on anyways. I've been waiting for the DNA results for almost an hour and it looks like there's a party going on in here,' he added irritated. Jordan smiled and turned towards her boss. 'Easy tiger, it's almost 6 anyways. Listen boss, this is Sara, an old friend, she just came to get me off work. Sara, this is my boss, Dr. Garret Macy. He barks, but usually doesn't bite.' Sara laughed and shook Dr. Macys hand as well. 'Jordan, don't say things like that in front of me, people will never believe I run this place.' He smiled at Sara. 'Nice meeting you. I am surprised Jordan actually has friends.' Everybody laughed and Jordan impatiently shook her head. 'Yeah we've already been there.' 'Where are you from Sara?' Garret asked. 'If you don't mind me asking,' he added quickly. 'No, that's okay,' she said. 'Las Vegas. I work with the Crime lab over there. I've worked with them for almost five years and haven't taken any time off so far. So they suggested taking an extended vacation and I felt like hanging out with Jo again.' 'And speaking of hanging out, we're outta here,' Jordan added. 'She had a long flight and I had a long day, you don't mind me leaving, right Dr. Macy?' She inquired, making puppy eyes at her boss. 'Dr. Macy, hah.' Lily laughed. 'Yeah, you know she wants something, when she actually calls people by their right name.' Bug mumbled loud enough for Sara to hear.

'Sure, go ahead and take off,' Garret said and turned to Nigel. 'Now after this distraction is eliminated would you please get me the DNA results I've been waiting for.' 'Yes my lord,' Nigel bowed and with a last wink at Sara he left the office.

Jordan and Sara nodded a goodbye to everyone and walked towards the elevators. 'Just give me a minute, I need to get my keys. Where did you leave your luggage?' Jordan asked Sara. 'With the doorman downstairs. He offered to take it, so I wouldn't have to carry it around with me in here. The people are really nice here in Boston.' 'I know.'

After taking the DNA results over to Dr. Macys office Nigel joined Bug in Lily's office and said: 'Las Vegas, huh? I have a friend there, Heather. I wonder if she knows her. Maybe I'll ask her later.' He stopped, for a moment lost in thought. Then he grinned and looked at Lily and Bug. 'Well, seems to me like there's more to it than just an extended vacation. We should get her to the Pogue and have a nice conversation.' Lily laughed and shook her head. 'Nigel, you cannot fill her up in her first week here. Give it some time and eventually we'll crack her. Now I don't know about you guys,' she added, closing her desk drawer and standing up, 'but I am done for today. Let's just call it a day and get out of here.'

* * *

He cursed again. Driving through Boston during rush hour had got to be the dumbest thing in this world. Stuck behind an SUV he looked out the window and watched the people around him. Businessmen waiting for a cap, a runner and his dog, an old woman begging for money. Then he saw her. Dark brown hair, a suitcase, standing outside. She looked like there was nobody waiting for her and nobody expecting her.

He inclined his head, watching her when a shrill honking behind him interrupted his thoughts. Traffic was slowly moving and he had to obey the rules of rush hour. Ten feet in ten minutes. He looked at the woman one last time and then focused his attention back on the road.

So much for now.

Any comments and suggestions still greatly appreciated!

Have a great day!


	4. Chapter 4

**Follow me**

* * *

Here we go again. Sorry it took some time to post again. Two of my best friends are leaving and I am about to move halfway around the world. You could say I'm busy. But here we go...

I still don't own anything.  
By the way tell me what you think about this part:

* * *

IV.

Slowly opening her eyes Sara moved her head to the side of her bed and looked at the alarm clock. In a shock she sat up. She had slept through her shift. She was almost 8 hours late. 'Oh, Grissom will be so mad, I can't believe it, why didn't I –' she hurried out of bed and grabbed the towel from her dresser, when she looked into the mirror above her dresser.

'Remember, you're on vacation in Boston'. Sara stopped and started laughing. Thank God for Jordan. She threw herself on the bed and remembered where she was. 'Well, that's what you get from never ever taking any time off,' she thought and then decided to start her day off with a nice long shower. 'I wonder if Jo left for work.'

She walked out of the bedroom into the living room and shared kitchen and saw a little note on the table. 'Sara - Good morning, I'll be back with breakfast.' She smiled. Breakfast sounded good. 'But first things first,' she thought and disappeared through the bathroom door.

When Jo opened the door to her apartment she heard the shower running and congratulated herself on her perfect timing. She sat down her shopping bags. 'Well at least she didn't have any time to look through my fridge.' She opened it and was greeted by an opened box of Chinese take out as well as two opened bottles of water. 'Sad, but at least it doesn't smell,' she laughed and started stocking it with milk, juice and various food items she had bought for Sara and herself.

When Sara came out of the bathroom she was greeted by a set table and the great smell of an omelet. 'An omelet? Really? Jo, don't tell me you started cooking, I might not be able to get over that,' she said, as she sat down at the table. Jordan laughed and sitting down herself poured her some tea. 'No worries there, I know this really great breakfast place around the corner and I thought you should have at least one good morning meal in this place. And don't even think about making coffee unless you actually need it. I know how addicted you are, time to change things.' 'Nice,' Sara nodded smilingly, 'I'll get fed and go cold turkey on my addiction. I'll be a ball with legs when I go back.' She sighed and her smile vanished. Silently she took a bit of her omelet.

'Wow, you definitely needed some time off, huh?' Jordan asked. 'Tell me what happened. Who happened? When and why.' She took a sip of her tea and watched her friend. Sara's eyes focused on a spot on the table when she started to talk about her latest case, the problems with Gil and her other co-workers. Jordan listened and nodded every now and then.

'This Gil seems to have absolutely no clues about people, huh? It was a great idea to leave. You should be proud of yourself.' Sara nodded, but kept her head low. 'I know I should, but it just still hurts, you know. I love him, or loved him, I don't even get it anymore. I was so obsessed with him. And now I don't even know if I can let go of him. It's like there's nothing else to hold onto if I let go of him. Like he's all I have left.'

Jordan looked at Sara, thinking 'She reminds me of when I used to obsess about my mothers murder. Letting go of that was probably the biggest thing for me.' 'I understand how you feel,' she said, 'when I stopped following my mothers killer I felt so alone. Like the only thing that had defined me had been taken away. I wasn't sure who I was anymore. But now everything is better, and you know what helped me?' she asked. Sara looked at her with big eyes. 'No, what?' 'My friends. And my work at the morgue. And cutting open dead people.' They both laughed. 'You just stay here with me, Sar, and we will get your life back.' Jordan said with an air of importance.

She took another sip of her tea and then looked back at her. 'So who is that other guy you told me about, Nick?' Sara raised her eyebrows. 'I mentioned Nick? I can't believe on my second day here I just spill all my guts.' Jordan laughed, 'Well, that's me. I'm just so trustworthy; you have no other choice but to talk. So, tell me?' Sara turned slightly pink. 'I don't even know what I can tell you. I was so obsessed with Gil; I didn't even have time to think about Nick. He's great. He's one of my best friends. You would like him, he's a bad boy; has a reputation with girls, but if you only really knew him. He's not like that. If he really cares about you he will move heaven and earth to help you. Definitely tried to help me, but I was too blind to see and too proud to ask or accept it.' She got lost in thought and stared at her empty plate.

Jordan smiled and started to stack the plates. 'No wait,' Sara reached over the table and grabbed her hand. 'Now after I told you everything you have to tell me everything. What do I remember about you and a certain cop?' She asked with a curious expression on her face. Now it was Jordan's turn to sigh and stare. 'Woody. I mean Detective Woodrow Hoyt. I know, weird name. He came here from Wisconsin and I worked him in. Kind of, I bent him the way I wanted him to be. But then he changed, without me even realizing. And now I see him, and he is just this great guy, but you know me…' She trailed off, looking at Sara.

Sara nodded and finished the thought for her. 'You did your usual dance and had a couple of panic attacks, done some pushing away, the typical Jordan, huh?' Jordan nodded. 'I wonder why we always have to make it so complicated. It's not like it's not complicated enough, life, love and work, but we need to make up some problems, so we can sufficiently screw ourselves over.' Sara wondered aloud. 'I don't know either. But let's just give it a try and not complicate things for the next two weeks, okay?' Jordan suggested and looked at Sara. Sara nodded and smiled. 'Well, vacation, here I come.'

Picking up the plates Jordan walked into the kitchen and opened the dishwasher. 'What are you planning for today? Just staying in here and watching TV or going out? There's a nice little shopping mall a couple blocks from here if you feel like spending some money. How long has it been since you had a nice shopping spree?' Sara followed her into the kitchen, carrying the tea cups. 'I don't know, but shopping sounds good to me. Maybe a little later I'll go. Doing nothing sounds really great now.'

'Well, whatever you do just know that tonight we are having a welcome party for you.' When Sara raised her eyebrows in surprise Jordan shook her head laughing. 'Nigel called while I was getting the food. I think they'll try to grill you about our childhood. And your story. We're gonna be at the Pogue, my dad's old bar. The address is on the fridge, just take a cap. I gotta go to work, will you be alright?'

'Sure,' Sara answered, already on her way to the couch with a cup of water and a magazine she had found in the bathroom. 'I'll relax my butt. See you later then. Oh, what time?'

Her purse in her hand, Jordan walked to her front door and answered. 'Eight o'clock. See you then. Have fun!'

* * *

An abandoned house in the woods, the owner an older lady that he had taken care of, how lucky was he. It was the perfect place. He opened the brown oak door, reached for the light switch and walked down the stairs into the damp and dusty basement.

He looked at the empty room. In a few days he would have all his equipment set up and his restless mind would be once more fixed on his prey. His eyes closed in anticipation he stopped for a moment then turned around and walked back up the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

**Follow me**

Still have nothing new to report. Don't own anything and still want to have everything.

Sorry it took me so long to update, trying to finish the next chapter before I leave for London this weekend!

* * *

V.

'Good evening boss, how was your week? Did you miss me?' Happily whistling Nick arrived at the Las Vegas Crime Lab and entered Grissom's office. 'Did anything happen while I was gone?' He sat down on a chair in front of Grissom's desk and expectantly stared at him.

Gil looked at him, not knowing how to say what he had to. 'Well, we still didn't finish the Carman case.' 'The Carman case? But Sara was working on that. No way she didn't finish it; the only way that could have happened was if –' he stopped and a worried look appeared on his face. 'Is she okay?' He asked. 'Did anything happen?' 'She's fine,' Gil replied quickly, sensing the fear in Nick's question. 'She decided to take some time off; the case really was getting to her.' 'No wonder', Nick shook his head, 'she shouldn't have taken it in the first place, but, well that's her. So, where is she now?' Grissom shrugged his shoulders and said 'I don't know. She said she'd call once she knew where she would be. I'm expecting a call soon.' He stopped and stared at the phone, as if that would help make her call sooner than later.

Nick sighed quietly. He should have known that she had a breakdown coming. From what Gil said it seemed at least like she had made the move to pause all the craziness. Nick smiled, impressed. 'Looks like she'd learned something after all. I'll really miss her, though.' He thought to himself, wondering when he had started to care for his best friend like that. 'My best friend?' After weeks of breakfasting together, driving to work together and basically spending every waking minute together they were by all considered best friends. 'I'd never thought it would be Sara.' He silently lied to himself.

The sound of the phone brought both of them back into reality. Grissom answered 'Grissom.' 'Hey Gil it's me.' Nick could hear Sara screaming in the phone from where he was sitting and laughed. 'Hey Sara, we were already worried. Where are you? And why are you screaming?' Grissom turned on the speakerphone and hung up the receiver. 'Oops, I didn't realize it was this loud. Just a minute.' Nick and Grissom looked at each other when they heard her jump off something and after a minute the noise level greatly decreased. 'Okay, sorry but I was working out and then remembered to call. How are you guys? Lot's of work? Is Nick back yet?' She blurted out before remembering not to say too much, she had said it all.

'Hey Sar,' Nick said into the phone. 'Yeah I'm back. Just happened to have a meeting with the boss. I cannot believe you are actually taking a vacation. Where are you?' He heard her laughing and she said 'I'm with an old friend in Boston. We grew up together and it's really the perfect place to go.' 'To the east coast?' Grissom remarked. 'You really went all the way, huh?' 'Yeah, I guess. I didn't plan it, when I arrived at the airport it was the first plane I could catch.' 'Are you okay?' Nick asked, wanting to hear more from her. 'Yes, Sir.' She laughed. 'Listen, I gotta go. If you want to call, I'll have my cell on. But I won't come to work, don't even ask. Bye guys!' 'Bye.' Nick and Grissom replied at the same time. Grissom hung up the phone and looked at Nick. 'Boston?'

'Who knows? I'm just happy she does have a friend.' With that he got out of the chair and walked towards the locker room. 'I'll see you at the meeting, okay?' He turned to his boss just to see him lost in thought again. 'He'll never get it,' Nick thought, 'after all he did to Sara it's not fair for him to still hold her back. I gotta call her', he decided and opened his cell.

Sara had just changed into jeans and a dark red t-shirt when her cell phone rang. She looked at the display, trying to decide whether she should answer it or not, when she read the name. With a smile she flipped it open. 'Hey Cowboy.' 'Hey yourself. How are you?' 'Not bad,' she answered. 'Are you checking up on me?'

'Maybe,' Nick thought, but said 'Do I need to check up on you?' Sara laughed, falling on her bed. 'I couldn't believe you weren't in the office, when I came in tonight, with your adorable nose in some boring textbook or wearing that annoying lab coat.' Nick leaned against the wall of the locker room, smiling to himself at her response.

'I do not always have my nose in a textbook,' Sara replied crankily. 'It's not my fault that you can't read. And it's not my fault either that I look so much better in that lab coat than you.' She enjoyed his laughter and then asked: 'So how was your seminar?'

'Same old, same old', Nick answered. 'I was pretty surprised to come back here and well; we already had that part earlier in the conversation. So, who is that friend you are staying with?' He asked curiously.

'We grew up together,' Sara asked, intentionally avoiding any more information. 'Hey, I gotta go, we're having a party tonight. Thanks for calling. I'll talk to you later.'

'Yeah, I'll call again. Don't do anything I shouldn't be there for,' Nick teased her. 'Bye.'

He hung up the phone and looked at her locker. It had been great to talk to her but he felt something stir in the back of his mind. A feeling, something bad was about to happen. He tried to figure out what it was, that kept him so uneasy, but he couldn't find an answer. After a while he dumped his stuff in his locker and walked to the conference room to join the usual all staff meeting.

After Sara hung up the phone, she got off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Staring at the mirror she tried to figure out how she felt about Nick calling her. She missed him. It surprised her to realize that she missed him even more than Gil. Closing her eyes she shook her head and then opened her make up case. 'Don't think about that now,' she told herself. It was almost time to meet Jordan and the others at the bar.

* * *

He had worked all morning to clean the basement, carried equipment he needed down the stares, painted the windows black and secured them with duct tape and wood till it was completely dark.

He walked up the stares and looked at the assortment of bats, chains and blunt knives in his kitchen he remembered that he had to buy a sharpener. Nothing spoiled fun like a dull blade.

Grabbing his keys from the counter he walked to his car and started the engine. Maybe there was someone out there waiting for him. Turning on the radio to an oldies station he pulled slowly out of the driveway and started driving towards the city.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, I know, I know it's about freaking time for an update. I hope you guys are still interested in this story. My move from USA to Europe was hard (my luggage got lost for two weeks!) and it took me well over a month to get halfway settled. Still weird speaking in a different language again.

Well, sorry for all that, it just had to be said. And here we go again.

Thanks a lot for all of your reviews and comments, they definitely help A LOT!

Oh yeah, I still don't own anyone.

* * *

VI.

'So, Jordan' Nigel smiled at her, 'I do hope she'll come tonight. I have enough cash to get her entirely drunk and then we can finally find out why she's really friends with you.' 'Haha, very funny,' Jordan replied, glaring at him across the table. 'Just don't be too obnoxious. We already talked this morning and well, just don't be insufferable.' She smiled at Lily. 'You guys are really funny. A welcome party. We're recently partying for any reason.' Lily laughed and Garret answered for her: 'Yeah. I think it's because they think, hey, our boss is drunk so we don't have to go to work the next morning either. It's such a shame that that's not how it works. Did you call Woody?' He changed the subject and everybody at the table looked at Jordan. 'Yes, Sir, I left a message on his cell, he didn't answer before. Recently he's been very busy. Or just avoid– Hey, Sara!' she suddenly yelled, waiving at the dark haired woman, who had just entered the bar and was now looking around.

Sara smiled at her and made her way through the crowded place towards their table. 'Hey guys.' She greeted them and sat down on the chair between Jordan and Dr. Macy. 'How was your day?' She asked, looking around. 'Not too bad,' Nigel answered before anyone else. 'The usual, I solved lots of mysterious cases and hardly had any breaks at all.' 'Puh, you are such a liar,' he was interrupted by Bug, 'if I hadn't analyzed those flies and larvae you wouldn't even have know how long he had been dead. It's all about the bugs,' he said to Sara.

'Yeah, that's what my boss always says, too. You should go into his office at the crime lab – stuffed with all kinds of bugs and beetles, books about bugs and beetles, pictures about bugs and beetles, you get the picture.' Sara shook her head. 'I'll get you a drink,' Jordan said and got up to walk over to the bar. Nigel saw his moment come and asked innocently: 'That sounds like an interesting place to work. What's you boss's name?' 'Dr. Gil Grissom', Sara replied with a role of her eyes and a smile. 'You work for Dr. Grissom?' Bug blurted out, before anybody else could say something. 'He is a genius. He's the reason I decided to specify on anthropology. Wow, you must be really smart to work in his lab.' Sara laughed and nodded after a short while. 'Yeah, I was a geek in High School, books were and sometimes still are my best friends.' 'Right after me, of course,' Jordan interrupted when she came back to the table and set beers down in front of everyone. 'My treat. Sara, I hope they haven't grilled you too much while I was gone.'

'It's okay,' Sara laughed, 'nothing I wouldn't ask a complete stranger either.' They laughed and toasted with their beers when Nigel asked again: 'So, I bet you work a lot there, huh?' Sara saw Jordan smiling at her and answered: 'You're damn right I do. We work nights and it really messes you up with everyday life. I don't think I have taken a vacation since working there. An unforced one that is. I just can't stop obsessing with cases and usually that's how I solve them.'

'Now that sounds really familiar, I wonder why?' Dr. Macy asked, staring at Jordan. 'I don't obsess about cases,' Jordan protested playfully. When the whole table laughed Sara joined in. 'I gotta say, seems like you have a pretty nice life here, Jo.' 'Yeah,' Jordan answered, looking around 'it is pretty good after all.'

'Excuse me, are you talking about me?' Jordan heard a voice ask and looking up from the table she saw Woody standing, wearing a wet coat. 'Hey Woods, I never would. Is it raining?' she asked as he sat down next to her. 'Yeah,' he answered slowly peeling himself out of his jacket. 'I wonder why I had to move to New England. The weather pretty much sucks all the time.' After this comment his eyes fell on Sara. 'Hey, didn't we meet earlier?' Sara laughed. 'Yeah, in the elevator.' At her words Jordan smiled. 'Of course you did, this city is just not big enough. Woody, this is my friend from Boston, Sara. Sara – this is Detective Woody Hoyt.' They smiled at each other over the table. 'Nice to meet you,' Woody said. 'I am surprised Jordan has friends.' Nigel nodded teasingly at Jordan as if to imply that that had been his point from the very beginning.

'Sara and I grew up together. You guys really need to get off my back, you make me sound like I'm a horrible person. Or something.' Jordan protested. 'Well something is exactly the word I would describe if I had to describe you.' Dr. Macy remarked and then turned to Woody. 'So how's your latest case been going? We heard quite a lot about it on the news recently.' Woody sighed. 'Don't even talk about it. I am so frustrated with eyewitnesses that don't know what they saw, invisible evidence, disappearing files and everything. I wish I could just hand it over to somebody and take off for a week or two.

'Did you hear-' he continued talking, when Sara felt Jordan's eyes on her. She looked over to her and grinned. So that was Detective Woodrow Hoyt. She stared at him and tried to read his face. He reminded her of Nick, a little at least. Dark hair, good looking, tall and funny. She smiled when she realized that that description probably described half of the men in America. Or at least a third. She looked back at Jordan and nodded.

Jordan smiled. That was obviously a nod of approval from her friend. 'I wonder what Woody thinks of me now. And what do I think of him? Is that what I really want? I do know the question to that, don't I? Why is life so complicated,' she thought with a deep sigh.

'Really she did that? Where are you right now?' An impatient voice tore her from her thoughts and she blinked. 'What?' The whole table stared at her. She realized he hadn't been talking to her. Woody held his cell phone to his ear and had gotten up. 'Okay, tell them I'll be right there.'

He closed it and said as he put his coat back on. 'There's an emergency. I gotta go. More later. Nice meeting you Sara,' he smiled at her and with a nod at Jordan he was gone.

'Wow, talk about being busy. I'm happy I'm not a cop.' Lily stated and took a sip out of her beer bottle. 'So, talking about lots of work how about a nice vacation next week?' she looked hopefully at Dr. Macy tilting her head.

He laughed. 'I wish. Actually I wish we could all go on vacation. But especially right now we have to work even harder, being understaffed and everything. I'll never understand how it can take the powers that be such a short time to get a completly new filing system and such long time to get some more specialists. I think we'd even be faster by asking people on the street 'Would you like to work for us?'

He bobbed his head while asking it and everybody started laughing when suddenly Sara said 'Yes.' Jordan looked at her and smiled. No surprises there. She had been wondering how long Sara would have been able to do nothing. 'Guess we're really a lot alike' she thought. She wasn't surprised either when she heard everybody else fall in about how great that idea was. Dr. Macy looked thoughtfully into the distance. Jordan could hear the big book of rules going through his mind. When he didn't find any law that this new idea could or would break he allowed himself a nod. 'Yeah, that sounds like a plan.' 'Well, welcome on board.' Nigel grinned and lifting his bottle toasted to the latest staff member.

* * *

Maybe Boston hadn't been such a good idea after all, he thought as he walked through the aisles of the supermarket. The people looked ordinary. Like they were content with their lives, with their jobs and family. He was disgusted by all of them.

He remembered the woman he had seen in front of the ME building. She had stood out and she still was in his head. Tomorrow he would start looking for her. After making that decision he felt much better. Then he grinned. She wouldn't.


	7. Chapter 7

YES! Its me! I am done moving, buying a new house, finding a new life and new friends. And all that jazz. I've been trying to get back the mood for this story, it still sounds kinda weird, but Ill try to get better again.

Thanks for all your reviews and especially thank you to mimioftheshadows, which review was the final kick that I needed to post this.

I dont own it and still want to.

And yes, I like doing these disclaimers, ...

* * *

VII.

‚Isn't it time to be done for tonight?' Sara stuck her head into Jordans office and looked at the big piles of paperwork that were waiting to be finished off. 'I guess so,' was the tired reply.

Jordan was staring at an empty cup of coffee in front of her and sighing. 'But I still have to do one more autopsy. And that one is important. Not important enough to obsess about it, but important enough to still do it tonight.' She grinned, got up and stretched. 'Are you calling it a night?' She asked Sara. 'Yeah, I think so. Can't get any further anyways. Today at least. I was thinking about picking up some Chinese from the place a couple of blocks away. Want me to get your usual?'

Jordans eyes lit up when hearing the word 'Chinese'. 'Yeah, sounds good. I don't think I'll be too long.' She walked around her table and towards the lab, Sara following on her heels. 'I wonder why we haven't had any really bad cases in such a long time. Seems like a the bad people decided to take a break.' Sara raised her eyebrows. 'Don't call it yet. Take it from me – it's just the calm before the storm.' 'I guess so,' Jordan replied, opening the glass door revealing Nigel in deepest work mode, focussing on some bloodsamples.

'Well, I'll see you later,' Sara smiled and with a wink at Nigel she left.

Exiting through the revolving door of the Boston ME's office she shivered and pulled her coat tighter. It had been especially cold the last couple of days. Lost in thought she started walking, not noticing a tall man, slowly following her.

Sara looked at the sky. It was dark and clear, which was probably the reason why she was so cold. 'I should call Nick tonight', she thought, immediately forgetting everything around her at the thought of Nick. These last days had been wonderful, working alongside Jordan and all her friends. 'I wonder if this is where I could be really happy,' she thought. 'But Nick', she immediately thought. He was in her thoughts a lot and the last times he had called she had not been able to talk to him, which probably was why she felt a little homesick. Homesick for Nick. She reached into her pocket to find her cell phone, when she remembered leaving it at the office. 'Damnit', she cursed under her breath. Hopefully Jordan will see it, she thought.

She had turned off of the mainroad and taken a little backway that Nigel had showed her just the other day. It was quiet and Sara quickened her steps, when her fingers felt something in her pocket. Oh yeah, Jordans pepperspray keychain.

'What is that?' Sara asked Jordan, while she was unlocking her door. 'It's my pathetic pepperspray. Not really helpful, but it's fun to know you have something to make somebody else scream. I don't even know if it still works, it's like a hundred years old. Here,' she unhooked it from her keychain and gave it to Sara. 'Don't you need it?' Jordan smiled. 'See, all the criminals here in Boston know me already, I guess you will need it more than me. It can always be a hint, you know, in case you get lost, just drop it somewhere and when we come looking for you, we'll know where to go.' 'Yeah, right, getting lost and me...' Sara giggled and put the spray into her pocket.

Her memory was rudely interrupted when she felt a hand grabbing the back of her neck. Instinktively she opened her mouth to scream and immediately inhaled a large amount of chloroform. Before everything went black she slowly slipped her hand out of her pocket and dropped the little red thing on the ground where it rolled to the side and disappeared under a trashcan.

* * *

It had been nothing but luck to find her, walking all alone along the street. He parked his car in a dark alley closeby and hurried after her. Luck was definitely on his side tonight.

* * *

When Sara opened her eyes the room was spinning around her and she immediately closed them again. She heard loud laughter that seemed to bounce off the walls into her head. 'Welcome.' She forced herself to open her eyes again and after a while she could see him standing in front of her. 'Welcome,' he repeated, 'to the rest of your life.' He looked her over and she shivered revoltingly under his violent gaze.

'There is no one out there looking for you. No friends, no family, nothing. I know you. I have watched you and followed you wherever you went. You'll be here forever. Or at least,' he grinned evilly, 'until I am done with you.'

He used his usual speech. Only this time was different. He had not done any research at all. But watching her, he saw the shimmer of fear in her eyes, quickly replaced by her anger and hope. The usual. He would wait and enjoy. Nothing else would be done tonight.

* * *

He walked upstairs, turning off the light and leaving Sara sitting in total darkness. She closed her eyes, trying to get used to the absence of light and after opening them again tried to observe her surrroundings. And empty basement with only one desk to her left, the stairs in front of her and a heavy chain above her, hooked into the ceiling. Her hands, tied with handcuffs above her head were hooked into it.

After wiggeling her hands for a bit she realized there was no way of sliding them through the cuffs. This guy was a pro and prepared for everything.

She cursed under her breath. What a mess. Shaking her head she wondered how many 'Be smart and don't walk in dark alleys' lectures she had gotten from the various members of her team back in Las Vegas. How could she have gotten herself into this situation? Trying not to panic she focussed on the one thought that kept her calm right now.

'Oh please Jordan find me.'


End file.
